Interesting conclusion to draw considering the Sox are currently 11th in the AL in games vs. opponents at or above .500 and 7th in the AL against opponents below .500.

Not to mention that the only team in the division the Sox haven't won a series against is the over-.500 team, and the Sox did win three of four against the last-place Cubs.

The Sox lost two of three in Houston, but the Astros started a seven-game winning streak not long after that series. They have lost two games to each of the bottom three teams in the NL West, but I think Sox fans underestimate how tough the competition is in the NL West. (With seven more interleague games, three in LA and four against the Giants, I don't expect the Sox to have a winning interleague record this season.)

Fans remember the wins against above-.500 teams because the wins surprised them. They remember the loses against below-.500 teams because the losses surprised them.

I was curious about this so I went back and looked through the records for the past five full seasons, 2009-2013.

The only season out of the five when the Sox played better against teams over .500 than against teams with losing records was 2009, that may be where the assumption began.

The other four years the Sox winning percentage against losing teams was higher than against teams who finished the year with a winning record.

Not saying the number of losses to losing teams didn't cost them dearly when it came to potentially making the playoffs or at least having a winning record but the numbers say they have usually played better against teams with losing records at year's end...at least for the past five years.

I was curious about this so I went back and looked through the records for the past five full seasons, 2009-2013.

The only season out of the five when the Sox played better against teams over .500 than against teams with losing records was 2009, that may be where the assumption began.

The other four years the Sox winning percentage against losing teams was higher than against teams who finished the year with a winning record.

Not saying the number of losses to losing teams didn't cost them dearly when it came to potentially making the playoffs or at least having a winning record but the numbers say they have usually played better against teams with losing records at year's end...at least for the past five years.

Lip

I think the assumption has been around long before 2009, and it's an assumption I've heard among other fanbases. I've heard it in Oakland among A's fans while leaving the stadium after one of those infrequent White Sox wins in Oakland. I think it's about observational bias, just as you can show fans a list of all the starting pitchers the White Sox have beaten the first time they've seen them and you'll still hear that the White Sox (most teams according to their fans, really) never beat pitchers they haven't seen before.

Any pitcher a team hasn't seen before is an upstart who should be beaten, and you remember it when they don't. Any team with a losing record with a losing record should lose to your team, and you remember it when they don't.